US diplomat detained in Moscow, accused of working for CIA

I'm Biv Dick Black, the Over Poster.

US diplomat detained in Moscow, accused of working for CIA
By Anna Nemtsova and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News

MOSCOW -- An American diplomat was detained in Moscow on suspicion of trying to recruit a Russian intelligence official to work for the CIA, Russian officials said Tuesday.

The man was an employee at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, according to the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

He was carrying "special technical equipment'', a "large sum of money" and the "means for changing one's appearance," according to a FSB statement.

The man was arrested late Monday night and taken to FSB's headquarters but later taken to the U.S. Embassy.

U.S. intelligence workers have “ repeatedly attempted to recruit employees of Russian law enforcement bodies and special departments” in recent times, the statement added.

Ambassador Michael McFaul, who was participating in a question-and-answer session on Twitter when the detention was announced, said he would not comment.

America’s top intelligence official last month said Russia had been “very cooperative” with the U.S. since the Boston Marathon bomb attack, for which one of the suspects is Russian citizen Tamerlan Tsarnaev. However, retired Gen. James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, also noted that “old habits die hard” and that some suspicion between between the two countries’ intelligence agencies, dating back decades, has survived.

NBC News' Alastair Jamieson reported from London. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.